Wednesday, April 28, 2010

Saturday, April 24, 2010

Synthetic Substitution is one of the all time top break beat 45's ever. I can also say and will argue with ANYONE that I was the absolute 1st person to sample this record. I was early on this. Mid 80's even before Ultramagnetic touched it.

Thursday, April 22, 2010

Tuesday, April 20, 2010

Hot Peas & Butta hit the road this weekend pulling double duty in Seattle & San Francisco. Both shows popped off lovely. Big shouts and thanks to all involved. To top it off I ran into mad hurdles. Two flat tires, running out of gas, people two hours late to meetings, and about 5 hours of sleep the entire weekend. Probably explains why I'm feeling the way I am right now. The bottom line is I take my craft serious and put a whole lot of effort into doing these events for the the party people. With out you there is no me. I sincerely thank you.

Checked into my room in San Francisco and they had this original Vox Super Continental all set up and ready to play!

Saturday, April 17, 2010

Last nights Hot Peas and Butta x DUG party in Seattle was incredible. The people and energy was at an all time high the entire night. But seeing that we’re still on the road and you couldn’t be here with us we wanted to bless you with just a taste of what was missed. Not even a full 24 hours later we present a portion of one of Supreme La Rock’s sets from this funky night.

Wednesday, April 14, 2010

Ok, so I posted the Thin Lizzy footage a month ago now I've found this! I really might have to be the first dude to cut up classic breaks on video. All you sucker dj's don't even think about biting my style. Stick to your current crappy pop videos while I drop gems on the plasma and big screens like this.

Tuesday, April 13, 2010

Club owners and promoters would like you to believe otherwise, but you, as a DJ, are worth something. The service we provide has a value no matter how much others try to undermine it. Everyone’s worth is different depending on their skills and history in the game. The key is to know where you stand in the scheme of things. Figuring out your place can be a challenge, especially for those new to DJing. Even a few years into it you might not know your place for sure.

Now, I’m not writing this to tell you what your worth is. It’s just not possible for me to do that. I’m writing this to put the concept of worth in your head so the next time a gig comes up where the promoter offers you half your normal rate you can have the piece of mind to tell them NO! It’s OK. You’re allowed to do that.

I believe, and I think most successful people would agree, that you should not take every opportunity that comes your way. You undermine your worth by doing so. For you to establish worth in other peoples eyes you have to demonstrate the things you will and won’t do. You WILL do the event that pays your going rate or more. You WILL NOT do the event that doesn’t meet your going rate. If you take every gig that come your way you’re showing everyone you’re a pushover and they can take advantage of you. That’s not the image you want out there.

Of course there are always some exceptions to the rule. I’m not going to pretend every gig I do meets the price point I’m aiming for, but the fact that I know my worth helps me determine which lower paying gigs may be worth my time. I also have no problem turning away the ones that aren’t. Sometimes exposure/a fun party/friends party trumps money.

That said, if you DJ a club on a Friday night for $150 when you usually get $400, there’s a problem. Why would you take that gig? You had a free night? I’m sorry, but staying home and practicing is worth more than letting every club owner/promoter in town know you’ll DJ for $150 instead of $400. Yes, if you turned down the $150 gig you might not DJ there, ever… But who cares??? Do you really want to DJ somewhere that thinks you’re worth 2/3 less than everywhere else you play? That’s not a repeat gig I’d want.

I could go on for days on this subject and I’m sure I’m missing some key points I’d like to make, but remember this. You don’t have to take every gig that comes your way. All money is not good money. You could be hurting yourself more than helping. You are worth more than the club owner/promoters want you to believe. Don’t forget, they’re making a killing!!

I was booked to play in Kansas City last Saturday night. Keep in mind I play at the Snoqualmie casino on Friday until 3AM and my drive home is 40 minutes. Had to be up and out by 6AM to catch my flight to K.C. It was nice to have my driver waiting for me when I finally touched down. We shot straight to the hotel for check in. Once I got situated I had 30 min. to arrive for sound check. I was pretty beat down at this point and hadn't even got started yet. After sound check grabbed a quick bite and hit my room to freshen up right quick.

Hit the club and they had a bottle waiting for me that I didn't even ask for. Good thing there were lots of girls there to down that bottle because I really wasn't trying to do it like that.

The spot was huge, top notch all the way and got packed out within no time at all.

I got on and did my thing till 3AM. After wrapping the night up I made it back to my room at 4:15. Just in time for my 5:00AM pick up! Grrr........ To say I was tired would be an understatement. Anyways I literally sat down for 10 minutes and my ride was there ringing me up to come down. Off to the airport.

The absolute best thing about a flight that early is they are empty! I damn near had the entire plane to myself.

I always try to travel as light as possible and without question carry my ish on with me. No losing anything, getting stolen and most important damaged. This bag cost me too much for some bag handler to throw it around and get it ripped up.

Tuesday, April 6, 2010

Time to share a treat with you and go back to Philly 1969. This is from an actual soul radio show with DJ Sonny "The Mighty Burner" Hopson. Record collectors may know of him as he did have an album out at one point. Listen to this broadcast as he drops gems such as Eddie Bo's "Hook & Sling" and rhymes and raps throughout the entire show. Why aren't radio djs like this any more? This is a real show and real product. So fly that they were proud to be 100% Negro and the station call letters were WHAT!